GateHouse Telecom A/S has received a further endorsement of the company's new Global Xpress Emulator (GLE) tool from satellite-based broadband access solutions, VT iDirect.

This latest endorsement follows that of Inmarsat earlier this year recommending the emulator to their partners for testing all Global Xpress (GX) applications and solutions off-air without a terminal. According to the company, GateHouse Telecom is already the leading independent provider of complete embedded software within Inmarsat’s BGAN system, with approximately 50 percent of the active 120,000 BGAN terminals in use today operating GateHouse software.

GateHouse Telecom aims to replicate their BGAN success in the Global Xpress network with their new GLE emulator.

Dave Davis, Senior Systems Engineer, VT iDirect, noted that when he first came across the concept of the GateHouse GX Emulator, he was impressed, but using the product has proved a revelation. The tool is small enough to slip into a laptop bag unnoticed, is lightweight and easily held in the palm of the hand. Once up and running, any GX package can be replicated, allowing end users, partners and anyone else in the distribution channel to see first-hand what those packages provide. The GX packages can also be manipulated to fit bespoke needs. The data usage and statistics tools allows comparison of packages and decide which is best for a specific use-case. Rain effects, blockage conditions, congestion, and so on, can also be added to test and demonstrate using real life scenarios. In addition, the GLE has a great feature allowing configuration of Quality of Service (QoS) metrics to see in real-time how they affect traffic.

Davis then added that the GLE is an ideal tool to test applications against GX packages and to optimize them without having to set up expensive, over-the air sessions, allowing demos to be conducted without line of sight and without the need to transport and set up GX terminals. The GX Emulator is an invaluable tool for trialing applications, optimizing solutions testing and demonstrating pretty much any scenario or end user application easily, reliably and accurately.